Ego development in adult women

Abstract

Ego development in adult women was studied using Loevinger's Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development (SCT). The subjects were 163 women in a university nurse practitioner training program. Ego development scores were correlated with scores from personality tests and with interview data. Higher ego levels were related to personal adjustment, nurturance, responsibility, tolerance, enjoyment of children, inner control, capacity for status, and age. Improvement in ego level scores was found only for those at, or below, the self-aware level. The SCT, as scored for women, seems to be particularly sensitive to differences in responsible caring in relationships, an aspect of personality development often neglected by other tests.

Promoting Advanced Ego Development Among Adults

“…There have only been four previous studies concerned with promoting ego development among adults (Alexander et al, 1990;Hurt, 1990;MacPhail, 1989;White, 1985). Although all of these studies succeeded in promoting ego development, only the study by White clearly demonstrated transition to the advanced ego stages among some participants.…”

“…The theoretical and research literature provides little clarification regarding the question of whether advanced ego development can and does occur in adulthood. It is clear from the research regarding the effect on ego development of significant midlife experiences (Bursik, 1990;Helson & Roberts, 1994), and of intervention programs (Alexander et al, 1990;Hurt, 1990;Lasker & Strodtbeck, 1975;MacPhail, 1989;White, 1985), that ego stage development is possible in adulthood. However, what remains unclear is the extent to which sustainable development to advanced ego stages is possible, and what the specific processes are that may lead to such development.…”

The Effects of Parental Tobacco and Marijuana Use and Personality Attributes on Child Rearing in African-American and Puerto Rican Young Adults

“…The majority of research on the antecedents of the parent-child relationship seems to support the notion that parental personality characteristics are important predictors of parenting styles and the quality of the parent-child relationship (Kendler, Sham, & MacLean, 1997;Small, 1988;White, 1985). The strongest and most consistent set of results suggests that parents who experience intrapersonal distress are less likely to provide a nurturing family environment and a structured and organized home.…”

“…For example, in one cross-sectional study, personality attributes, such as low levels of anxiety, strongly predicted the parenting characteristics of warmth and protectiveness in parents of female twins (Kendler et al, 1997). In another crosssectional study, White (1985) found that women with more integrated ego development were more nurturing and derived more pleasure and satisfaction from their interactions with their children and from seeing their children grow and develop than did mothers whose ego development was less integrated. In our own research, we have found that in addition to a low level of parental psychopathology, parental personality characteristics reflecting conventionality and ego integration are strongly related to a positive parent-child bond (e.g., Brook, Whiteman, Balka, & Cohen, 1995).…”

“…However, other studies of the parenting behavior of illicit drug users have yielded mixed findings (Hogan 1998 In this study, we examine the relation between a history of parental smoking and drug use and parent personality attributes as they relate to parental affection and parental rules, using prospective, longitudinal data. Building on previous research, which assessed the main effects of parental drug use, this study focuses on the interactions of parental tobacco and drug use and parental personality and behavioral attributes as they relate to parenting behaviors (Brook, Richter, & Whiteman, 2000).The majority of research on the antecedents of the parent-child relationship seems to support the notion that parental personality characteristics are important predictors of parenting styles and the quality of the parent-child relationship (Kendler, Sham, & MacLean, 1997;Small, 1988;White, 1985). The strongest and most consistent set of results suggests that parents who experience intrapersonal distress are less likely to provide a nurturing family environment and a structured and organized home.…”